The Halfblood Prince: Rise of the Rinnegan
by Sam Colt
Summary: In the aftermath of the battle at the Department of Mysteries, the brains attack left more than scars on Ron.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I Do not own either Harry Potter or Naruto.**

The Halfblood Prince: Rise of the Rinnegan

--

Ronald Weasley more commonly known as "Ron" was not having a good night. No he wasn't having a good night at all. Ron tossed and turned as images of giant tailed beasts, a group of terrifying people in black cloaks with red clouds that put Voldemort to shame in terms of fear, men, women, children being killed left and right in a devastating war, but what terrified him the most was the image of himself slaughtering hundreds of thousands of people with a look of cold indifference as the lives of those he had taken were merely a step towards achieving his ends.

--

_An orange headed man clad in a black cloak adorned with red clouds was being attacked by a girl with pale lavender eyes and he retaliated by raising his hand speaking softly "Shinra Tensei", expelling an invisible force upon her that knocked her near unconsciousness. Taking his obsidian blade he lazily raised it, ready to plunge it into the girl but not before looking into the eyes of the blond haired figure pinned down a few metres away, his own metallic silver orbs meeting deep sapphire blue filled with fear._

"_Stop!" The figure shouted as he drove his blade into the girl, the sound of the sword piercing flesh surrounded the area followed by a deafening silence._

"_This is just like how my parents were killed right before my eyes…love breeds sacrifice...Which breeds hatred..."_

_The blond haired youth before him gazed upon him with a looked of hatred that promised swift vengeance as the youth transformed into a reddish black monstrous being with six tails and bone exoskeleton covering his body._

"_Then you can know pain." Ron said as he thought "The Fox's power…looks like Naruto's anger has awakened it."_

"_Do you hate me?" Ron exclaimed as he watched the creature before him growl in anger._

"_Do you really think that people can understand each other like this?" Ron continued to taunt as he saw the monster across from him prepare to attack him._

_Naruto roared in pure hatred and fury as he rushed forward to strike his foe down._

" _That's it..but my pain is greater than yours." Ron stated darkly as he moved to defeat the jinchuuriki._

--

With a start Ron rose from his nightmare with speed belying his lanky stature as he bent over to the side of his bed and emptied the dinner he had consumed earlier that evening onto the hardwood floor. Grabbing his wand from the nightstand next to his bed wand with a quick swish of his and a well placed spell the mess he had created simply vanished. Shrugging of the sheets he swiftly walked towards the bathroom and locked the door and leaned against it as he slid down towards the tiles as he unsuccessfully tried to calm himself from the nightmare. Turning on the tap Ron splashed his face with water to cool him off and looked at his gaunt face that displayed the lack of sleep.

'_What in the bloody hell is going with me?! Madam Pomphrey said the images and dreams would fade in time not getting stronger.' _The thought raged in his head.

He took a glance at the scars that criss-crossed across his arms and they seem to glow with an unearthly shade of red as if they had been heated with fire. The glow eventually faded in a few minutes but that was enough for Ron to determine that there was something more going with the brains' attack than even the Healer of Hogwarts could find.

Deciding that there couldn't be anything done about the scars now, he headed back towards his room in hope of getting some much needed rest. Unbeknownst to Ron, that as the glowing scars had faded his hair had become a much darker shade of red almost the colour of blood, and his eyes now held a slight tinge of metallic sheen to them.

'_Maybe everything will get better in the morning.' _Ron thought optimistically as he climbed into his bed and wearily closed his eyes.

--

Several hours later Ron again woke from his sleep however it was not due to the images or nightmares he had been previously plagued with, rather he had an unusual 'instinct' to begin the day with exercises that seemed completely foreign to him. Changing from his pyjamas to a simple black sweatpants and shirt he climbed down the stairs put on his shoes and began to run across the fields near his home heading towards the forest nearby. Without even regarding the fact that the sun hadn't even risen yet Ron stopped at a clearing inside the forest and began to look around the area, an imperfect circle surrounded by the trees, the moon giving the woods an ethereal glow. Enveloped by the sense of tranquility that the silence of the forest gave him, Ron's eyes held a glassy look as he shifted his body into a stance. With one last glazed look at the area, Ron slowly breathed as his body moved in an intricate form of deadly close range combat. Every kick, punch, sweep, step, jump all seemed to flow seamlessly as if he knew how to fight his entire life. With one last punch, Ron relaxed back into the stance he had in the beginning, his breathing worn out from the taijutsu training he had.

'_Blimey, I know Kung Fu, or whatever those guys did in that television Hermione showed me. Wait a minute,'_

"Television" Ron said aloud,

'_What the hell is going on? I couldn't even pronounce that word correctly before without Mione correcting me._

Something was happening to him, something was inside those brains when they attacked him. What was going to happen to him? Should he tell his parents, or Harry and Hermione, hell even Dumbledore? The rustling of leaves due to the wind broke Ron away from his thoughts as he realized that he had been outside for several hours and that his family would soon get worried if he did not show up for breakfast. Ron stood up and quickly shook the dirt off of him as he swiftly ran back towards the Burrow.

--

Ron carefully opened the door to the Burrow as he stealthily made his way inside and closed the door behind him. It was lucky for him that his mother had not waken yet to prepare for the family's breakfast and that he had still enough time to head back towards his room before he was discovered. Taking care not to make any sound he climbed into his bed and pretended to be asleep.

Barely a few minutes had gone by before Ron heard a knock on his door as his sister Ginny yelled outside of his door.

"Ron, wake up its breakfast. Get your arse down there before Mum makes me come here again to wake you up."

With an exasperated sigh Ron got up from his bed and made his way downstairs _again_. Ron walked into the kitchen and saw his mother preparing different meals for the family, as well as Ginny sitting in one of the chairs at the table. Making his way to the table, Ron grasped one of the chairs and sat down as his mother finished making breakfast and placed the food on the table. Taking some of the eggs and bacon, Ron was about to start into his meal before a knock interrupted him. With great reluctance Ron got up from his seat and opened the door, surprised to his eldest brother Bill now standing before him with a wide smile upon his face.

"Bill! What are you doing here? Did something happen at Gringotts?" Molly asked her eldest son.

"Mum I have an announcement to make! Fleur and I are getting married!" Bill cheerfully stated as he walked inside.

Silence surrounded the entire kitchen.

Breaking out of his dazed stupor, Ron went over to Bill and slapped him on the back as he said his congratulations to his eldest brother.

"Congrats Bill, Fleur is lucky to be getting married to you and both of you deserve to be happy."

While Ron was giving his best wishes, Molly and Ginny on the other hand were in a state of shock at the sudden burst of news. Snapping out of their daze, they also congratulated Bill on his engagement to Fleur albeit half-heartedly.

"Fleur and I plan on getting married next year in the summer, also Fleur insists on getting to know you all better so I invited her to stay over the summer with us. "said Bill.

"That's...that's wonderful dear, I'm looking forward to getting to know her as well." Mrs. Weasley reluctantly replied as Ginny looked at her mother in disbelief. Noticing the look upon Ginny's face, Ron nudged her in the ribs and gave her a look that said, "Don't say anything."

"Anyway I have to be getting on to work, I'll see you all soon." Bill said as he walked out of the Burrow and Disapperated with a loud crack.

With a sigh Ron headed back upstairs towards his leaving his mother and sister to stew about the news of Bill and Fleur engagement. Knowing his mother and Ginny, they were not happy at the sound of Bill getting married to Fleur. Ron shook his head as he entered his room; he had more pressing matters to attend to, specifically on what exactly was happening to him.

Ron took out a blank notebook with leather covering Hermione had given years before as a Christmas present for him to write down the homework the professors assigned in case he forgot which apparently was most of the time. Opening the book, Ron took his quill and was about to write when an idea came to him. What if the book was stolen or if it was read without him knowing? Making use of his newfound knowledge Ron wrote what he mostly remembered from his dreams in kanji. How he came to know how to write in archaic Japanese kanji was a mystery to him thus being he who was just chalked the thought that it was part of whatever was happening to him. After Ron finished writing the last details of his dreams, he closed the book and hid it in a compartment hidden beneath the floor boards.

Exhaling a tired sigh, Ron sat down on his bed and began to think about his situation. He couldn't tell his family, they might think he was crazy and have him shipped off to St. Mungo's, he couldn't tell Harry either, his best friend just lost his godfather, Sirius, and Ron would not add more problems to Harry' s dilemma. Hermione was a possibility however the risk of her telling Harry or his family was a risk he wasn't willing to take, telling Dumbledore might not even be worth the effort since the old man, with his blasted twinkling eyes, probably knew about what was happening to him the moment he entered the Hospital Wing in Hogwarts after the battle. Ron's shoulders tensed as he remembered what had happened during the fight in the Department of Mysteries.

'_The battle...I was useless there wasn't I? Oh, who the hell am I kidding, it was a miracle I didn't get any of my friends killed by my stupidity. What the hell was I was smoking to think that I could protect my friends from Deatheaters when I couldn't even defend myself. I'm just fucking coward, A FUCKING WEAK COWARD!'_

The moment the last thought went through him, Ron took one of his pillows and threw it furiously at his bright orange walls. Heavy breaths escaped from his mouth as fury rippled through his body as his mind continued its self-deprecation.

'_Weak...no...I-I...I refuse to be some pathetic sod that. I'm better than this, I'm the best friend of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, and I'm a Weasley. I am better than this. I need to be stronger, stronger than what I am right now. _

A flash of brilliance danced within Ron's eyes as he had just found the solution to his problems. The brains may have given him nightmares that put Harry's own to shame, but they have also given him the resources to which he could better protect his family as well as his friends, and if it means enduring gut wrenching nightmares and training to do it then so be it. The people that fought inside his dreams were much stronger than any aurors, Deatheaters, or any witch and wizard, there were even several people beyond the power and skills of Dumbledore and Voldemort.

'_And I can be just like them but it's going to take some time to match up to their level. The people in my dreams seemed to have trained their body's, minds, and perfected their skills their entire lives to become as good as they are._

Hardening his resolve, Ron was determined to use the gifts (or curses) that were bestowed upon him to look after his family and friends.

After snapping awake from his thoughts, Ron quickly changed his attire to another pair of black sweats and long sleeved shirt. Retrieving the book he had hidden underneath the floorboards earlier, Ron hurriedly went down the stairs and told his mother and Ginny that he was going to practice Quidditch outside.

"Ron wait it's not safe out to go alo-. " Before Mrs. Weasley could finish Ron interrupted with a slightly irritated reply,

"Mum, I'll be okay."

And with that Ron grabbed his broom, went outside the Burrow and shot into the sky. Looking for the same clearing he had gone to earlier in the morning Ron descended and got off from his broom to take a look around the clearing. Nobody could disturb him here while he prepared himself for the brutal training that was to come.

"Perfect." Ron whispered to himself as he moved to begin his training.

* * *

Author's Notes: Well, this is my first fanfiction and honestly it turned out somewhat better than I expected. I had the idea for the story for a couple months but I never got around to write it due to school. When I looked at the crossover section for HP and Naruto there were quite a bit of stories mostly involving Harry or Hermione, or some other characters from HP but I rarely saw Ron as the main focus and he has quite a bit of potential to him in my opinion. Anyway I updated the chapter to include a dream sequence since I felt the beginning was missing something and hope that the short dream would spice things up a bit. To the readers please review I would appreciate it, and to the reviewers thank you for critiquing my work.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own either Harry Potter or Naruto.**

The Halfblood Prince: Rise of the Rinnegan

Chapter 2: Changes and Visitors

--

Ron was tired.

More like exhausted really.

No wait scratch that. Words could not describe how the pain and soreness he felt in his muscles and the bones that seemed to wail in protest when he attempted to move, while his throbbing hands were bandaged and wrapped in dirty white cloth, at the same time a pained grimace marred his face. Even as his body clearly displayed that it was hurting due to the botched performance of attempting a jutsu, Ron had proud smile stretched across his face.

'_I nearly die from a half-arsed attempt at doing a technique and being the idiot that I am, I'm smiling. If anyone were to look at me right now they'd think I was a bloody masochist. Thank Kami, that Ginny or rather the twins aren't here, they'd never let me live this down.'_

The area around him now dubbed as 'Training Ground 9' was a picture of pure destruction that only techniques involving the elements and explosions while Ron was lying on the ground spread eagle with his eyes closed oblivious to the scorched grass, trees missing nearly half their trunks and deep gouges in the ground that surrounded him. As Ron sat there, he thought back to weeks earlier when he had started his path in becoming stronger.

--

During his first week of training sessions as he liked to call it, Ron managed to practice the taijutsu forms from the memories he had gained with a few several mistakes, however a problem occurred to him as he was running through the different punches, kicks, footwork, etc. He was grateful that the brains had somehow given his body the instinct to perform the taijutsu katas with him having to barely think about doing so however, he also realised that he lacked the necessary speed, strength, endurance, and stamina to effectively use it in live combat.

To compensate for the essential basics needed for the taijutsu training, Ron had torn strips of cloth from an old shirt and created a set of makeshift bracelets and belt and tied them around his ankles, wrists and waist. Using a spell he had gotten from his father, Ron cast a spell so that the strips of cloth were heavier as if he was wearing a set of weights. With his crude version of weights Ron decided that he would wear it most of the time and increase the weight when his body had got used to the current amount of weight. He theorised that running around and practicing with the weighted pieces of cloth he could gradually increase his speed, stamina, as well as his strength. Although he had figured out a solution to one of his problems, it still left Ron without a partner to spar against to better improve his skills.

Training with chakra was whole other level of complexity than taijutsu was as it required mental fortitude, intense concentration, and deep focus which Ron could blatantly admit were severely lacking. Fortunately, Ron had the bull-headed determination, which coincidentally was not unlike a certain blond jinchuuriki, to prevail in his endeavours.

In the beginning he had difficulty calling upon his chakra and had failed spectacularly on the first couple attempts as he had not even come up with a sliver of chakra.

*Flashback*

_**In Training Ground 9**_

Ron took up a sitting position with his legs crossed, back straight, eyes closed, both hands clasped together in a strange position with one hand having his fingers closed in a fist except for his thumb index and middle finger pointed towards his chin while the other hand overlapped it in the same position, Ron began to meditate to summon his chakra. The seconds turned to minutes and the minutes stretched to several hours without Ron being able to drawing any amount of chakra.

'_Dammit, why can't I get this damn thing to work?' _Ron though furiously as he exhaled a weary breath in an effort to calm his temper and erratic heartbeat. Shaking his head, and slightly flailing his arms to ease the tension in them, Ron closed his eyes and purged his mind of thoughts as he focused his entire being into calling upon some quantity of chakra. Quite a few minutes flew by with Ron not once breaking his concentration, as his brows furrowed in meditation and heartbeat increasing its pace. Deep within Ron's body his cells began to emit energy as it began to progressively get stronger by the second. Once it had gained enough strength chakra began to extend all over his body as it was channelled through the chakra circulatory system. Ron sensed the flow of chakra as it filled his coils and the sensation he felt was beyond imagination. The excitement and feeling rapidly faded as the chakra soon dissipated from his coils however Ron had wide grin on his as he finally achieved a crucial step.

'_Yosh, time to get started on the fun stuff' _

*End Flashback*

Over the next several days after successful attempt, Ron's efforts to channelling chakra were steadily improving as he was now able to summon a suitable amount to perform the leaf concentration exercise. With astonishing focus and determination that would have had his professors' jaws slamming into the floor, Ron was able to master the method within an hour. Having mastered the exercise so quickly, Ron hastily began the tree walking method. Channelling his chakra once again he began to mold it around his feet, deciding which tree to use, Ron stood away from it and began to run towards the tree.

Ron was met with... significantly less success than the previous exercise as he _impressively_ managed to be able to make three steps running across the tree before feeling a fluctuation in his concentration before being repelled from the trunk and blasted away. Fortunately or unfortunately Ron was lucky enough to land gracefully face first in a puddle of mud managing to break his fall, his body relatively unharmed but his ego slightly hurt.

Shaking his head from the daze the fall caused him Ron stubbornly stood up to try the exercise once more only to repeat the results several more times. On his last attempt for the day, Ron once again directed chakra to his feet; however, instead of getting a running start to build momentum, he stood in front of the tree placed one foot on the trunk. Satisfied that the foot was sticking to the tree, Ron took his other foot and placed it on the trunk as well. With his body perpendicular to the tree and both feet being held by chakra against the trunk, Ron ever so slowly walked up. Each step forced Ron to think about the amount of chakra that he was placing on his feet thus allowing him to calculate the necessary amount needed to continue without fail. When Ron reached the highest branch of the tree he gave look around the surrounding area as felt elated that he had at least managed to perform the training method correctly and all that was left was to continue to practice it to minimize the chakra needed to execute it and being capable to do it instinctively.

Surprisingly enough to Ron, jutsu was far easier to understand and perform than magic despite the fact that the vast majority of his knowledge of ninjutsu and genjutsu came from memories therefore he had no one to teach him unlike magic which had professors to guide the students .

'_Maybe it's because I have an ambition now. I had planned on becoming an Auror together with Harry and I was content to just coast alongside him in school, but....Ever since I started training I feel as if I have a new purpose in the world involving something other than just being Harry and Hermione's best friend, or another Weasley. And I gotta say...it feels damn good to have something even this to call as my own._

Jutsu in general functions on a similar path to magical spells as they both required a set amount of energy, concentration, visualization and calling the spell/jutsu to work properly. Because of his persistence in improving his chakra control Ron was able to swiftly master the basic academy ninjutsu, the Bunshin and Henge technique, several E-Rank ninjutsu such as the Kawarimi and Shunshin jutsu, even adding some D-Rank techniques like the Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu and a few basic genjutsu, to his steadily growing repertoire of skills. The Shunshin no Jutsu, however, took quite a bit more time to use as Ron had kept smashing into trees and other objects.

*Flashback*

"Alright, clear focus on where I want to go, the centre of the field, not another tree." Ron pepped talked to himself. Performing the required hand seals and focusing his chakra, Ron felt his body being pulled forward at an incredible velocity directly into a ....tree... his body made quite a thud before falling back and collapsing on the ground.

'_Ouch...' _Thought Ron as he tried not to think of the pain in his chest, abdomen, and unfortunately between his legs as well.

*End Flashback*

The loud cry of some bird broke Ron away from his thoughts as he gazed at the symbiosis of different colours that painted the sky as the sun slowly began its descend into the horizon,

'_Damn, it's getting pretty late. I better get home soon before mum tears me a new one for being out late again.'_

Ron rose from his current position ever so slowly so as not to aggravate any injuries he might have acquired in trying to perform a Fūton: Reppūshō, which he did perfectly but failed to consider the repelling force of having the wind blow violently from his hands with Ron being propelled away and landing a good several hundred metres. His muscles and bones ached in protest of his decision to move as Ron was finally able to stand up, taking the time needed to dust off the mud and dirt from his clothes all the while grabbing his broom as he kicked off the ground soaring off into the sky heading towards his home.

--

The powerful gusts and roaring of the winds shook the broom slightly as Ron landed near the front door of the Burrow; he took his broom to the shed before heading towards the kitchen door. Opening the door carefully, he slipped inside and turned to face the door to gently close so as not make a noise but a loud cough made Ron froze in shock from his task he slowly looked over his shoulder, Fleur along with his entire family with the exception of Charlie were gawking at him as they appeared to be starting dinner. Feelings of awkwardness saturated the silence as Ron exchanged looks with everyone.

'_Well...this is awkward..." Ron thought sullenly._

"Well, well, if it isn't Ronniekins back home and _just_ in time for dinner too!" said George... or Fred...one of the twins.

"You know Ronnie, Gred, nothing keeps him away from food for too long." The other twin exclaimed amicably.

"Quiet you two. And just _where_ were you gallivanting around at this hour Ron? You should have told us where you going and furthermore you shouldn't have been out this late!" Mrs. Weasley said sternly as well as with worry.

Ron softly let out an exasperated sigh as he moved towards the sink to clean his hands to prepare for dinner. For the countless times Ron snuck out of the house to train he had been methodical in taking care to stealthily sneak out of the Burrow and he was now mentally kicking himself in forgetting that Bill and Fleur were coming tonight and was now paying the price of his complacency with his mother's probing questions.

"I was just out for a fly and practicing for quidditch mum, no need to get worried and besides I can handle myself. " Ron replied calmly as he finished washing his hands and moved towards the table but Fleur got to him first and started speaking.

"Ron, it is good to see you again. Bill and I were discussing plans for the wedding and he was thinking of asking you to be one of his groomsmen." Fleur stated with a heavy French accent while Ginny and Mrs. Weasley had slight scowls on their faces as they pursed their lips tightly in an effort to keep their mouths from saying anything.

"Yeah, it's nice to see you too Fleur, I'd hug you in congratulations but I'm a bit filthy right now." Ron said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand.

"Oh, you haven't seen filthy yet dear soon-to-be-sister-in-law. Just wait till' the food arrives and Ron starts gorging himself. Makes giants look like gentlemen with the way he eats." Fred stated humorously.

Ron gave the twins a glare as he flipped them off while his mother wasn't looking as he took a seat at the table just in time for Mrs. Weasley to put the food on the table. Taking a steak and some mash potatoes, Ron was about to take his first bite when a heavily French accented voice said,

"Molly, the meat is a bit overcooked and the mash potatoes are a bit heavy with all that cream."

Ron let out a shaky breath as he tried not to chuckle at Fleur and the look on his mother's face.

'_Mendokuse'_

--

Dinner at the Burrow was a boisterous affair despite all the tension due to the steadily rising amount of attacks that had occurred within a few weeks. The twins certainly helped lifting the mood and kept everyone busy with their antics. Bill and Fleur were talking to his parents about the upcoming wedding and he found it difficult not to laugh as Fleur gushed about the details of the wedding while his mother looked like she sucked on a lemon. His thoughts eventually turned towards the upcoming new school year and how he was going to continue his training but was suddenly jolted from them as a voice interrupted his thinking.

"Hermione is coming over tomorrow you know." Ron turned towards Ginny

"Wha'? Sorry I didn't catch that."

"I said Hermione is coming here tomorrow." Ginny reiterated as a little tug at his mouth turned into a small smile.

"She is? That's great." Ron forced himself not to show his enthusiasm to his sister but she just gave a look that gave the feeling like she was seeing right through him.

"You know you've been acting really weird lately ever since the Department of Mysteries. I know you haven't been practicing quidditch today because you need Chasers and Beaters to practice Keeping so just where and what were you doing?" Ginny demanded suspiciously as Ron was mentally groaning for having a smart but nosy, troublesome sister. He knew he couldn't tell her the truth about what he was doing as she would in all fairness freak out that the brains had messed with his mind and body much like what happened to her in his second year with Riddle's diary.

Ron figured that the best way to lie was to tell the truth or half of it anyway.

"Nearly dying has a way of changing people Gin. And I was just out to clear my head from the dreams I've been having lately and flying helps keep them away." The look on Ginny's face softened as it turned from accusing to concern as he continued.

"Anyway the reason I'm all dirty and banged up is that I was trying to perform some moves that could help me keep the Keeper position on the team."

"Well with the way you look right now we'll be lucky if don't get another Sloper or Peakes at tryouts. Oh and you stink." Ginny teased as she pinched her nose in mocking disgust.

"Shut it you. I don't smell that bad," Ron took a sniff of his arm pits before his face turned to a grimace, "Okay, maybe I do but I still smell better than you."

"Prat." Ginny playfully stuck her tongue out at him and hit him in the shoulder lightly for good measure. Ron laughed softly as he got up from the table and began to head towards his bedroom. Once inside he took off the weighted pieces of cloth tied around his hands, feet, and waist and grabbed a towel before walking towards the bathroom to take a much needed shower. Entering the bathroom, Ron put the towel on the rack, got in the tub and turned the nozzle as hot water splashed onto his body. The spray of water cascaded from the shower head, the heat of the water calming Ron as he washed himself.

When Ron was finished he took the towel, dried himself off, and wrapped the towel around his lower body preparing to leave the bathroom when he noticed that his appearance had changed albeit only slightly but it would be difficult for him to explain the changes. Ron took in his appearance as he examined himself in the mirror. His hair had taken a look reminiscent of the way he had worn it in his third year however this was different as his hair was now a messy myriad of spikes, thankfully his hair was still red even though it was several shades darker than before almost taking the colour of blood. The changes to his body were shockingly noticeable where he was lanky and slightly skinny before, now he was showing signs of muscle in his chest, back, arms, legs, and abdomen, where even a six-pack was beginning to show.

"Bloody Hell," Ron said to himself still in astonishment as he continued to examine the changes made to his body. But what shocked Ron the most was that the trademark Weasley freckles was gone, his skin now pale and clear without the innumerable freckles smattering across it.

Quickly leaving the bathroom Ron went inside his room and closed the door. Ron changed into his pyjamas and sat down on top of his bed thinking about the changes in his body. While the training he undertook required a great deal of physical activity along with the weights, he was bound to obtain some muscle but not to this extent. Ron could only guess that it was the brains that had something to do with the changes that happened to his body.

Letting out a worn out yet frustrated breath, Ron let his head fall on his pillow and wrapped around himself a bed sheet, sleep coming easily due to the exhaustion he felt from training.

--

_Ron arms were wrapped around themselves resting on his knees as he along with his mother and father were huddled together in corner of the living room, trying not to make a sound as foreign footsteps echoed loudly in their home. Two figures of men appeared in the shadows walking towards the kitchen, Ron could the sounds them rummaging through their cupboards in search of something and froze still when he heard them speak,_

"_Did you find something?" One of the men asked his companion as the sounds of something being placed on the table reverberated throughout the halls._

"_Yeah. Some canned food!" The other man exclaimed excitedly as his partner responded by complaining,_

"_I haven't eaten in four days"_

"_Nah, it's only been three" The other man assured his companion._

"_Whatever, let's just hurry up and eat. I'm starving." The man said flippantly._

"_We can look around after. There might be more somewhere else, too._

_During the exchange of conversation between the two strangers his parents gave each other a worried glance as they tried to quickly figure how to get out of this situation._

"_Let's get out now..." Ron's dad whispered shakily._

"_But what if they find us? I'm scared..." His mother shot back to his father with fear dripping in her trembling voice._

"_Don't worry...just try not make any noise..." His father reassured his mother as he prepared to move from their current position. The sounds of the men eating along with the clatter of the utensils could be heard from the kitchen._

"_This is good!" A male voice complimented as they continued to devour the food, while his family slowly walked towards the door taking extra care not make any sound to alert the men of their presence. As Ron headed towards the door with his family, he failed to notice the cabinet as his hip hit it. Ron could only clamp a hand over his mouth before the vase fell to the floor and broke into pieces, as the noise alerted the men in their house._

_The men were at the doorway in the kitchen as they shouted out to the darkness._

"_Who's there!?"_

_Before Ron could blink, his father charged towards the men with a battle cry in hopes of stalling them to give his family enough time to get away._

"_AHHHHHH!"_

"_Damn! The enemy here!?" One of the men questioned aloud as Ron saw his father struggle with the other man, his hand gripping the man's arm which held a dark kunai._

"_Get out while you can!!" Ron heard his father shout to him and his mother while struggling to keep the man at bay._

"_Come on, Nagato!" Ron's mother urged as her harm went around his shoulders so that she could get them out and guide them to safety. Ron turned his gaze from his mother and saw the other shinobi running towards them with a kunai in his hand, a look that promised death upon his face. His mother looked on in terror as Ron could only yell out a cry, "Wah!" using his arms to shield his face in a pathetic attempt to protect himself._

_The sound of cold metal piercing flesh deafened the room as the dying woman breathed out her last pleading words,_

"_Nagato..Hurry...Run" Was all Ron heard before the sound of her lifeless body dropped to the floor. Across the room his father looked at the body of his in horror as he angrily cried out,_

"_How could you!!?"_

_Before he could continue the man he was struggling slit his throat with the dark blade, the blood rushing out from the wound upon his neck, a gurgling sound escaped from Ron's father as he fell to the ground dead._

_Ron was sitting with his back to the cabinet, his knees brought close to his chest as his arms wrapped around them all the while he was shaking terribly from shock , tears flowing silently down his face he softly cried,_

"_Ahh..."_

_One of the shinobi came towards him staring at him with a look of disbelief,_

"_Wh, what...? A kid...?" The shinobi managed to splutter out._

"_What the hell...? They're not ninjas!" His companion exclaimed in incredulity as he examined the corpse of Ron's father._

"_What should we do!?" The shinobi shouted in confusion._

"_How did this happen...!? Damn it! I can't believe we thought they were the enemy!" His partner cried out hysterically with a tinge of regret._

_Ron on the other hand continued to softly cry as small gasps of breath escaped from his mouth willing himself not to look at the bodies of his parents. One of the shinobi bent down to speak to him and his gaze shifted from the floor to the shinobi's hitae-te, a metal plate engraved with the spiral leaf of Konohagakure._

"_I...I had no idea there were still civilians here. I'm sorry, kid..." The Konoha shinobi lamely apologised to Ron as twin rivers of tears cascaded from his eyes down his cheeks as small whimpers escaped from him all the while his mouth tightened into grit the sound of his teeth grinding against one other . _

_Ron could feel the hatred, and anger rise within him as his teeth gritted into a snarl, his entire being filled with rage and the urge to kill the men who took away his loved ones. Ron screamed a cry overflowing with fury and pain as he charged forward, the desire to kill these men overwhelming his entire body and mind, his eyes a metallic grey with circles surrounding the iris and pupil, the tears pouring swiftly from the corners of his eyes,_

"_Ahhhhhh!"_

_--_

Ron awoke with a start, his body trembling from the dream he just had. Ron stared at his hands and was surprised to find them shaking uncontrollably. Willing himself to calm down, Ron took several deep breaths before shrugging of the blankets and got off his bed, grabbing his wand and with a soft, "Lumos," the room lit up with the light emanating from his wand. Ron dropped down kneeling on the floor and began searching for the loose floor board that had the hidden compartment with his notebook tucked away. His fingers grasped the edges of the board as he pulled it away displaying the leather-bound notebook lying there. Ron grabbed the book and hurriedly began writing in kanji the details of his dream. The moment he finished the last word, Ron thought about what had happened in his dream,

"_The boy in the dream was named Nagato...and his parents..." _Ron cringed as the waves of pain and anguish he felt as he remembered clearly the emotions that he was feeling inside the dream.

"_So this is what Harry felt when he lost Sirius..." _

Bringing himself slowly upright, Ron glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, 7:30. Knowing he wouldn't be going back to sleep anytime soon Ron walked out of his room and made his way to the bathroom. Entering the room, he trembled slightly as his feet touched the cold tiles making his body shiver slightly while he turned the lights on. Ron twisted the knobs on the sink, the water quickly gushing out from the tap as his hands cupped a handful of liquid before splashing his face with it. Doing this several more times Ron's nerves began to calm while water dripped down his face, taking a glance in the mirror Ron was dumbfounded at the reflection staring before him. His eyes or rather metallic blue orbs stared back at Ron from under his wild crimson locks with their distinguishing feature being the ever widening concentric circles that spread from the pupil outwards.

Like ripples in a mercury pond.

"Oh Fuck."

With his right hand Ron slapped himself...hard...then repeated the action again for good measure to see if he was still dreaming. Unfortunately that only resulted in leaving red hand print on his stinging face and he quickly concluded from the pain that he was definitely not dreaming.

"By Merlin's left saggy nut, what in the bloody hell happened to my eyes?" Ron said aloud as he brought a hand up to his face and pulled an eye-lid down to examine his eyes.

"These look like what that kid had in my dreams...but his were greyish silver not blue..." Ron said thoughtfully as he continued to look at his eyes.

A knock on the door interrupted Ron from his reverie as a voice on the other side of the bathroom door shouted out in irritation,

"Oi Ron! Yes I know it's you in there you swarmy git, now get out of there so I can use the loo!"

Panic rose up within Ron as he had no way of concealing what happened with his eyes and if he knew the voice outside the door, which had to be one of the twins, they would definitely tell his mum and that would lead to unnecessary questions he did not need right now. Steeling his resolve, Ron yanked the door open and quickly pushed aside his brother Fred or George, whichever one, and ran towards his room before they could see his face.

"HEY! Watch where you're going you daft idiot" an indignant yet pesky voice hollered behind him as Ron ignored his sibling and went inside his room. Ron closed the door behind him and casted a locking charm on the door while breathing a sigh of relief that one of the twins had not seen his eyes, '

'_Whew...this day could not start out any worse.'_

"Hermione you're here!" Ginny shouted happily as her voice echoed throughout the house as Ron groaned in disbelief, his newly acquired eyes gazing towards the ceiling as if complaining to the heavens for some mercy,

'_I just can't get a break can I?_'


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own either Harry Potter or Naruto.**

The Halfblood Prince: Rise of the Rinnegan

Chapter 3

Normal Days, More or Less

--

'_I'm screwed. No, not screwed, more like royally fucked' _

Ron mentally groaned out in frustration at his current predicament as he awoke earlier from a chilling nightmare and discovered that his eyes had changed into metallic white less orbs with ever widening circles from the pupil outwards. To make matters worse his best friend had just arrived and knowing Hermione she would fuss and worry over him like his own mother, then find out everything she can about the eyes which would lead to questions pertaining to where he was sneaking off to over the past couple of weeks. Hermione is his best friend but she could be a little overbearing sometimes and he did not want to suffer her questions.

'_Alright Ron , how the hell are you going to get out of this mess without Hermione finding out about your creepy new eyes? I can't use a henge to disguise the eyes as it would dispel if something manages a strong hit to land on me. Argh!! What am I going to do?'_

With haphazard looks around his room, Ron frantically began searching for something that would help solve his problems. Several seconds had gone by with Ron having no luck, the footsteps of his sister and best friend were becoming louder and louder as each foot climbed every wooden step higher and higher, his time of finding a solution to his current dilemma slipping away as the sounds came ever closer to his room. Striding towards the last unopened drawer, Ron hastily grabbed the brass handle and quickly pulled drawer open and there standing in the drawer between the mess of his Keeper gloves, old letters from his friends and family, and other objects was his solution, his answer, his saviour given in the form of old worn out Quidditch goggles. The goggles themselves were old and worn out as usual much like most of his belongings, nonetheless the goggles would serve to hide his eerie new eyes from his family and especially Hermione as the lenses were tinted black to reduce the harsh glare from the sun. Grabbing the goggles from inside the drawer, Ron struggled haphazardly to put them on as the door burst open with the wooden entry to his room swung violently to the other side from the harsh kick that no doubt came from his sister.

"Wakey wakey Ronniekins, Hermione's here."

Turning around to face the door with the goggles still messily lodged onto the top of his head; there standing before him at the other side of the entrance to his room was an annoying red-headed little sister and his bushy haired best friend.

"Ever heard knocking Gin? You should try it sometime before kicking in people's doors around..." Ron said in exasperation while rustling a hand through his mess of hair.

His sister however just snorted and rolled her eyes as she ignored his jibe glancing towards her companion giving each other an amused look.

"Well I hope it certainly woke you up insensitive git. You weren't even there to greet...Ron what the hell happened to your room? It looks like a herd of hippogriffs stampeded through it, not that your room was in better shape than before."

Ginny said as she and Hermione took in the view of the state of chaos that was called his bedroom.

'_Think quickly, think quickly'_

"I thought there was spider in the room..." Ron muttered awkwardly faking embarrassment while on the other hand Hermione and Ginny shared a knowing look and were trying very hard not to let their wide grins and giggles transform to full-blown laughter at the mention of Ron's fear.

Knowing that any additional humour on their part would further embarrass Ron, the girls quickly stifled their laughter and sniggers to a minimum; however unbeknownst to them he was assessing their reactions with bewilderment and confusion.

'_That's odd; they haven't even begun interrogating me about my eyes yet. With the way they look I'm pretty sure they would have notice them by now...'_

"It's nice seeing you again Ron, I've missed you."

Ron was quickly brought out of his reverie by a set of bronze arms wrapping around his torso and head of bushy brown hair obscuring his vision underneath his chin. With the slight shock quickly fading, he thought that they must have looked like a sight, considering that he was about a head and a half taller than Hermione but the feeling of being hugged by her was a pleasant feeling so with a slightly awkward start he slowly embraced his arms around Hermione's smaller frame.

"Hermione... I-I...w-well I just... I missed you too..." Ron muttered softly into her hair as he continued to hold her in his arms.

On the other hand, Ginny was looking amusingly at the pair as they seemed to be hugging the life out of each other. It would have been better if she had a camera to take a picture so that she could probably use it for blackmail later but her stomach silently growled in protest for the lack of food in it. As much as it was cute looking at the two her stomach needed feeding so with a loud cough,

"Ahem."

At those words, Ron and Hermione jumped slightly and broke away from each other with a speed that would rival Harry's firebolt, however in his haste Ron's foot landed on one of his Chuddley Cannon's figurines awkwardly thus resulting in giving Ron another lesson about gravity and mass. However it seemed that gravity would be the loser in this battle as Ron managed the brief time of his backwards freefall, the taijutsu training came into effect as he was able to land on his right hand, then using the momentum from the fall, he pushed off into the air forming into a one handed back flip with his feet coming to land on floor solidly.

"Ron...that was amazing! H-How did you do that?"

Hermione stammered as she and Ginny were flabbergasted at the display of acrobatic skill that he had just performed. Ron on the other hand was feeling deep confliction as he silently cursed his new abilities and instincts because it was going to be difficult to explain or rather lie about the show he had just foolishly exhibited in front of two of the most annoyingly inquisitive girls he has ever known.

"Oh...W-well...Honestly, I have no idea how I just did that...I guess all that quiddich exercises I've been doing lately have paid off...hehe"

He chuckled sheepishly while he rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand while he gave the girls nervous if only slightly looks.

'_Quidditch exercises?! That was the best you could come up with?!'_

Ron's mind mentally shouted at him in fury at the more than slightly obvious lie that managed to dreadfully escape from his lips.

"Whatever. Anyway I'm starving so let's go get some breakfast."

Ginny said irritably as her stomach once again grumbled quietly reiterating the empty void that is her stomach and with a huff she strode out of the room, her footsteps landing on the creaky stairs echoing throughout the upper floor.

Shaking their heads at his sister's display, Ron and Hermione made to move to follow after her for some much needed nourishment as well however Ron stopped in his tracks as he turned towards the bushy-haired brunette with a small smile and said,

"Hermione, you go on ahead and I'll follow you in a bit. I've just gotta go to the loo for a moment. Kay?"

"Alright, I'll save you some food before Ginny and the twins eat it all"

Hermione replied in amusement as she went down the stairs and headed towards the kitchen.

The smile swiftly vanished from Ron's face as he removed the goggles perched oddly on the top of his head and made his way towards the bathroom to figure why Hermione and Ginny weren't blazing up a storm about his eyes. Upon reaching the bathroom he hurriedly locked the door then moved to stand in front of the mirror to examine his eyes and stared in shock at the reflection. A set of azure orbs stared back at him save for one distinct attribute.

They were _his_ eyes or rather they were his normal eyes.

--

"Whew..."

Ron breathed out a sigh of relief seeing that his reflection in the mirror was back to as normal as can be sans the normal Weasley freckles that were liberally spread all over his body. He walked out of the bathroom and climbed down the stairs onwards to the kitchen to join his family for some breakfast. Due to some residual tiredness from having his slumber cut short because of _slightly _more than horrifying dreams... err...nightmares... on his part; it was a miracle for him that he managed to even move however the scene facing him facing him in the Weasley kitchen certainly shrugged off all that drowsiness.

"...non, non, non, no. You are putting too much salt and pepper in ze eggs, and zis cream ees too 'eavy for them..."

Ron struggled not to laugh as Fleur fussing over making breakfast which made his mother look like she sucked on a lemon with the way her lips were pursed into a thin line in silent fury while Ginny and Hermione were sitting at the table with slight grimaces painted on their faces which would normally have been unnoticeable to most however it was painfully obvious to him. It was a mystery to him why his sister, mother and _now _his best-friend were giving hostile looks to the French woman.

'_I don't think I'll ever understand women...'_

In fact, it was a miracle in itself that Fleur was still standing and not a crumpled heap lying on the floor of the kitchen from being hexed by his mum because he knew her well enough that the kitchen was her domain, and Fleur giving _suggestions_ and imposing her style of cooking in said domain was viewed as a threat. Looking at his brother's fiancée in one of his mum's aprons doing a good impression of a graceful hurricane, if it were possible, in the kitchen with the way she prepared and cooked meals that looked expensive, and elegant, Ron knew that in her own way was trying to give a good impression to her future in-laws.

It seemed that the women were too absorbed with what they were doing to notice that he had just entered, a soft amused chuckle escaped from his lips as Ron decided to let his presence be known to the others with a soft grunt,

"Ahem."

Hermione, Ginny, and his mum jumped slightly in surprise while Fleur continued to cook.

"Ron! You're up earlier than usual. I would've thought you would still be asleep." Mrs. Weasley said while setting up the dining table with plates and utensils.

"Well I was but _someone _was apparently shouting loud enough that the muggles in the village could hear." Ron said nodding his head in his sister's direction with a slight bite of sarcasm.

Ginny responded by giving him a harsh glare and flipping him the bird, whilst on the other end of the table Hermione rolled her eyes at the slightly childish antics of her friends. Ron walked from the kitchen door towards the table and sat himself down in preparation of gorging himself on whatever Fleur was making.

--

Hermione watched Ron move to the kitchen table, grabbed a chair and sat himself down ready to eat, however as he took his seat she was shocked by his appearance as the sunlight poured in from every window illuminating the Weasley kitchen in a warm glow. Her eyes took in his porcupine spiked hair which was a much darker hue than his family very close to blood red, and skin was a great deal paler than before in addition to being now freckle-free. Her upper teeth bit softly on her lower lip in anxiety as she considered whether to voice out her concerns about his transformation or not. Gathering her resolve she made to question him however it seemed that she was beaten to it by an _irritatingly _melodious voice belonging none other than to Fleur Delacour,

"Ron, what 'appened to you? You look very different than you were yesterday no?"

"Really? I don't think anything has changed." Ron ignorantly moved his head and gazed down to look at his body and arms to see if there was anything wrong with him, while Hermione mentally rolled her eyes at his usual obliviousness.

'_Honestly...how thick can he be? Did he not look at himself in the mirror when he went to the loo?' _Hermione thought dryly with a small smile as she watched her idiot of a best friend continue to inspect himself.

'_I guess that answers that question. Then again this is Ron...he wouldn't notice if a skrewt was on top of his face until someone pointed it out to him...'_

Fleur stretched out a hand and grabbed one of Ron's arms and quickly inspected seemingly as if to ascertain that the numerous freckles that peppered his skin were now gone**.** A feeling of irritation washed over Hermione as she glared at Fleur touching Ron's arms while his family looked in shock at the revelation as well yet she was mildly surprised and more than slightly smug at the reaction from Ron as she noticed he flinch slightly at the contact and slowly removed his arms away from her grasp. She was not blind to the effects of Fleur's Veela heritage on men especially Ron considering that he himself fell under her spell a few years earlier but this in itself was astonishing.

'_That's odd... shouldn't he be a dribbling mass of drool from having a pretty girl like Fleur touch him? Why would he flinch like he was just scalded by hot water? What is going on with you Ronald?'_

While Hermione continued to ponder Ron's newfound strangeness, Ginny, Mrs. Weasley, and Fleur seemed to be bickering about what to do about the changes done to his body. Surprisingly enough, Ginny was siding with Fleur on whether to send Ron to St. Mungo's to have a Healer examine him for any problems

"He should be sent to St. Mungo's so the Healers' there can figure out what is wrong with my son!"

Mrs. Weasley angrily stated as she grasped Ron's arm firmly and began dragging him by the arm towards the fireplace so that they could Floo to St. Mungo's, but Hermione could clearly see the look of horror on his face as his heels were digging into the floor in futility at attempting to stop his mother's tirade.

"Mum...look I'm...mum c'mon...seriously I fee-...MUM!" Ron cried out fiercely in defiance, ripping out his arm from his mother's grasp as the occupants in the room could only gape in shock at his sudden outburst.

"Mum...look, I know you're worried about what happened to me but I'm fine. I'm not sick or infected with anything...I just look a little different,-" Ron spun around slowly as to show that he was in all appearances perfectly healthy and normal.

"Madam Pomphrey said to me that there would be some residual effects of the brain's attack and that they would soon fade in time, so...please don't worry..." Ron said calmly with a hint of pleading in his voice.

Hermione was stunned to say the least by Ron's response to his mother's overreaction to his physical change in appearance. While she could understand the Weasley matriarch`s concern for her children as she cared for Ron a great deal it was baffling in her eyes as he was _never_ this calm and collected especially when speaking to a frantic Mrs. Weasley. She noted that his response was composed and if she wasn`t watching very closely, subtly calculated as she watched Mrs. Weasley calm down considerably than before.

The brunette was shaken from her musings when Mrs. Weasley gave her son in the mother of all the fiercest hugs, with Ron's face looking like a deer caught in the headlights as he was also stunned by his mother's actions. Hermione's lips quickly formed an amused grin as she saw the youngest Weasley son return the hug albeit _very _reluctantly and awkwardly. It seemed to her that while he had changed on the outside, Ron still managed to retain his for lack of a better term _Ronness _and the mystery surrounding his change in appearance was intriguing Hermione by the second and she was not one to pass on solving a mystery.

--

Although Ron felt enormously uncomfortable at the massive bear of a hug his mother had just given him, he was more concerned at the looks Hermione was giving him. He knew without a doubt that she, like his family, were curious about his radical change in appearance and by the expressions that flittered upon her face he recognized that she was mentally listing everything that would be considered _abnormal _from the usual from him. His reaction to Bill's fiancée suddenly grabbing and inspecting his arm obviously did not help in concealing his secrets as he desperately quashed the urge or rather more like the killer instinct to react when she grasp his arm, which would have resulted in harming Fleur and having unnecessary questions being asked.

"_C'mon, get it together Weasley. I need to get this under control or risk exposing my secrets and have someone end up getting hurt because of it."_

--

The youngest Weasley son sighed defeatedly at the clutter of belongings decorated his bedroom in an attempt to hurriedly disguise the Rinnegan. Grasping his wand firmly in his right hand, he muttered the cleaning spell that would put everything back in its rightly chaotic place before he had to ruin his orderly chaotic room. After the whole ordeal in the kitchen, breakfast turned out more amicably than he expected nonetheless Ron was grateful for the distraction as he figured that eventually his family would soon be informed of his 'transformation' and he would need to come up with a better explanation to fool Harry in addition to throwing Hermione off his trail. Although the tension during breakfast had subsided it returned in full force as his mum had declared that Harry would be soon coming over during the week. The announcement although lifted his spirits as we was glad that his other best-friend would be coming, he was dreading on hoping to discover a way to keep his friends and family in the dark regarding his _nocturnal_ activities. His musings however were broken as he heard a melodious soft voice belonging to the frazzled brunette standing at the doorway to his room,

"Judging from that sigh you just let out, you're more tired than I thought you were in the kitchen."

Ron turned towards Hermione and took in the sight of his friend; smiling at the signs of ease she displayed her stance including the way in being at the Burrow despite the peril facing the Wizarding World.

"Well, it's just that I woke up a bit earlier than I would have liked to."

She broke her gaze from him slightly before responded with a tiny smile that graced her lips as she said, "I'd hardly call 7:30 am in the morning early Ronald, classes starts at 8:30 and you miraculously show up...yet it seems I keep forgetting that you would prefer to sleep the day away."

Ron couldn't help but grin faintly at her barb reprimanding his sleeping habits as it such a _Hermione_-ish to do, like expecting him to do homework during the summer holiday.

"Gimme a break Hermione, it _is_ the summer holiday and I'd like to soak up as much as I can before we go back to that work-ridden hell known as Hogwarts"

Hermione looked almost affronted at his description of the learning institute that she loved dearly but frowned slightly at the smug smirk painted across his face that indicated he was just merely teasing. She took a quick glance around his room and noticed that it was noticeably tidier than when she first arrived in the morning, finally resting her gaze back to her red-haired companion.

"Have you heard from Harry lately? The letters he's been writing lately" She queried.

"No and I don't think that we will until he arrives, he's probably been told he can't write letters to us like last year..." Ron trailed off but soon regretted his words as memories of the battle at the Department of Mysteries flooded their minds, how close they were to their deaths and more importantly Sirius' death affecting Harry greatly.

"Do the scars still hurt?" Hermione asked gently as she gave a quick glance at the criss-crossing scarlet welts on Ron's arms that seemed even more prominent with his pale skin and lack of freckles.

"No, they haven't been hurting since we got discharged from Hogwarts although they do itch now and then. What about you? That curse did hurt you pretty badly." Ron softly replied.

"I'm alright for the most part but if I overexert myself I get winded pretty easily and Madame Pomfrey explicitly I should take it easy for the rest of the summer."

"So does this mean that you've finally come to embrace the ways of the slacker now because heaven forbid that Hermione Granger should relax when she's on summer vacation." He teased lightly but received a light punch on his arm upper arm which he rubbed in mock hurt but Hermione merely rolled her eyes at his antics.

"Hardly, and for your information doing homework is very relaxing to me, it's very therapeutic." Hermione said indignantly however Ron made his way to his bed and simply snorted in disbelief and amusement at the sheer thought that doing work on holiday could be anything but relaxing before taking a seat upon the mattress.

She took off her trainers and soon joined him taking the other end of his bed and sat with her legs crossed. On his side of the bed as he was observing Hermione make herself comfortable he was in silent contemplation at the-

"What are you thinking?" Hermione asked abruptly as he locked eyes with her and he was finding it difficult to continue to lie to her.

"It's going to get worse isn't it? The war I mean." Ron whispered quietly, as he broke their gaze and turned his head to stare at the scenery outside his window. Hermione on the other hand kept silent and was seemingly playing with a loose strand on his Chudley Cannons bed sheets.

"And we're right in the middle of it with Harry aren't we?" He continued as the tension in the room grew in intensity.

"We can't know what's going to happen but do the best we can and hope that everything turns out for the better." Hermione replied in a shaky but firm voice as she once again looked into his eyes giving him a small smile in comfort for their impending future as key figures in the war.

Ron's eyes went wide at her response as he was surprised at the determination but even more so at the sliver of hope in her voice. In that moment he knew without a doubt that as long as he had his friends and family, everything would be alright.

--

The days quickly soon passed since his bushy-haired friend, Hermione, arrived at the Burrow. As the date for Harry's arrival drew ever closer, life at the Weasley home seemed more lively which was surprising as the twins were no longer residing in the Burrow, however Fleur more than managed to make up for the lack of excitement. Ron couldn't help but chuckle at the irritation the Weasley women and Hermione have for Bill's fiancée. Granted she was a bit head strong and _seemingly_ oblivious towards the obvious dislike the other women of the house had for her but he knew that Bill loved her completely and that had to count for something. It only got worse when Ginny and Hermione grew irritated with him when he began to be _nice_ to Fleur. Ron pretended to ignore the stern frowns from Ginny or his mother that he received whenever he was chatting animatedly with the French woman or the spine-chilling death glares Hermione had been giving him each time Fleur hugged him or attempted a kiss on the cheek.

'_Geez I was only being nice, they didn't have to glower at me. You'd think they'd make an effort to get to know her for Bill's sake but nooo. Why do the women in my life have to be so damn smart and stubborn?'_

Exhaling a sigh that could not unfortunately hide his annoyance, Ron took a weary hand, wiped it down his face in an attempt to fend off the weariness that had been accumulating since Fleur, and Hermione's appearance. He was glad that his training had not become cut short due to their presence yet he had to be more cautious with his departures, his family was not hard to fool but it was Hermione that he was concerned with as she unfortunately possessed a brilliant mind. It wasn't soon after that Ron began to, regrettably, change his training schedule so that he had to train during the night to avoid suspicion on his whereabouts during the day, still it did not keep Hermione from badgering him about finishing his homework, he could even still feel the bruise that formed when she smacked him in the head after falling asleep during one of her tirades. Ginny on the other hand wasn't helping his case as she would just bubble up in laughter at his predicament whenever she wasn't writing to her boyfriend Dean.

At that thought Ron shivered as he mentally tried to scrub his mind clean from the terms boyfriend, Dean, and Ginny as it would eventually lead him to associating what boyfriends and girlfriends do when they were together.

'_Snogging'_

Not that he was against snogging, mind you, it was a little disturbing to picture his little sister kissing some bloke she was dating, granted said bloke has been his roommate for roughly 5 years but that wasn't the point.

Silently clearing his mind of Ginny's relationship with Dean, Ron methodically packed his training gear into a worn out brown single-strap rucksack as he was going to be looking at another long night of training yet he couldn't help but become lost in his thoughts. The dreams have been steadily growing in number as he had them almost every night after each training session and were soon affecting his daily life as he was starting to 'space out' more often than he would've liked as it was starting to become suspicious Hermione. Ron shook his head clearing away the proverbial mist in his head and made his way towards the window in his room with bag in hand, grabbed the coffee coloured edge and lifted the wooden windowpane. The wind swirled around him the moment he jumped from his window as he fell through the air, the feeling of liberation invigorating his mind as the ground seemed closer and closer. Tucking his knees close to his chest, Ron flipped in the air bringing his feet perpendicular to the grass outside the Burrow, and shortly his feet touched the ground with one knee bending facing the earth and one arm steadying his form from the force of gravity. The instant he landed on the ground, he let out a breath of relief that he had not woken anyone up, turned towards the direction of Training Ground 9 and began to run with inhuman speed, his mind, body, and blood flowing eagerly in anticipation.

'_Time to get to work.'_

--

_**Training Ground 9**_

*Pant*

*Pant*

Large breaths of air uneasily escaped Ron's lips as he greedily took in the fresh oxygen to feed his deprived lungs of their sustenance as his limbs once again failed to move as he felt as if several tons of lead had been strapped to them. He was currently kneeling with one knee on the ground and an arm outstretched steadying his shaky form which kept bracing his body from toppling over.

'_Well, technically not tons...more like couple hundred pounds. You've gotta stop overdoing it Ron, you're not gonna be of use to anybody if you kill yourself during training.'_

Ron felt his eyes widen in disbelief in realization that his own mind was berating him for taking his training too far which subsequently had taken its toll on his body, resulting in a number of bruises and scars predominantly marking his form. He glanced down and took in the sight of his arms; the bandages covering his hands right up to the forearm were in tatters, discoloured to a dull grey from being covered in dirt and soaked in sweat and blood, belying the strength and power hidden within. He attempted to bring himself standing, but his legs had another idea as a wave of pain flashed through his lower appendages in objection at his decision. On his second attempt to raise himself, Ron heard movement in the woods south of his position; the being moved with very subtle yet purposeful strides, drawing closer to where he was. If whoever was hadn't made a mistake resulting in announcing their location they would've snuck up right next to him which indicated that whoever was approaching could very well be a potential threat and Ron knew without a doubt that for all his training and improvements in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and chakra training, they were completely useless to him right now as he was exhausted from said training.

'_Alright, gotta rely on good ol' magic to get me through this then...no worries...no worries'_

Ron reached into his trouser pockets to grab his wand only to find them vacant. He quickly looked in the direction where his rucksack lying a few feet away from him and silently cursed as he realized that he had left his wand in the bag.

'_Not good, not good at all...no wand, no magic...guess that leaves taijutsu and ninjutsu...'_

Ignoring the blinding pain in his limbs, Ron fought to move himself to an upright position furthermore shifted his body into a steady but loose taijutsu stance, prepared to face the oncoming menace.

'_Okay Ron, don't panic...remember your training and you'll do just fine...just fine...'_

Taking a few moments to relax, he willed his breathing to a calm and steady rythym, the air repeatedly filling and escaping his lungs as seconds passed with anxiety no longer enveloping his mind, instead Ron felt composed save for the anticipation in his body, a hunger to obliterate the opposition. In that instant, Ron's muscles coiled, ready to kill the danger as felt the presence of a being enter his stomping grounds and yet... silence

Silence.

Nothing but silence greeted him as time seemed to slow to a standstill and yet the danger had not passed. Ron had almost let his guard down as there appeared to be no threat in the vicinity however a shift in the winds swept over the clearing rustling the trees, grass, in addition to other structures of nature and that was when he heard it. He would have missed the sound if he wasn't keenly aware of his surroundings but he heard it if only barely.

The rustling of clothing. Robes to be exact.

35 degrees north-west of his position, and roughly about a kilometre in distance, Ron's hands flashed with inhuman speed, his fingers and palms twisting and combining themselves into the necessary handseals, channelling the chakra quickly through his coils, his mouth forming into a pucker as he sucked in all the air he could possibly fill his lungs with. He brought his right hand close to his mouth creating an O shape before finally releasing the air into the hole, which reacted with the chakra contained in his palm transforming the escaping air into a giant mass of fire, compacted into a flaming ball in the direction of the unknown entity.

'Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu_' _He mentally chanted in his mind as he watched the massive fire ball scorch the grass beneath it as it quickly flew towards the disguised wizard.

Ron couldn't help but grin in satisfaction as the Katon jutsu hit its target but his elation was swiftly dashed as he gaped in shock as the invisible mysterious witch or wizard summoned a torrent of water from a swish of their wand that completely quenched his jutsu, steam rising mid-air. The figure swished their wand again and the Disillusionment or some kind of invisible spell was dispelled from their body and the unknown being finally came into view. A tall, thin man wearing a waist-length beard garbed in with a long black traveling cloak and pointed hat with half-moon spectacles resting upon his crooked nose.

"Judging by your look of stunned disbelief, you did not expect me to appear before you, Mr. Weasley." Said Dumbledore pleasantly looks of eternal amusement dancing in his blue-eyes.

Ron's eyes narrowed in doubt as he once again took to his taijutsu stance ready at any given moment to attack or flee should the need arise.

'_What's the Professor doing here, and how did he find me?' _He mentally queried, as he continued to eye the aging wizard, all the while said professor was calmly standing with a serene smile on his face.

"How do I know you're the _real_ Dumbledore?" Ron demanded firmly, his hands, feet and body still holding his stance should the Dumbledore before him turn out to be a Death Eater in disguise.

"During your first year at Hogwarts, Harry had shown you the mirror of Erised, and my favourite flavour of jam is raspberry. Is there anything else you would like to question me about as to ascertain the validity of my being?" Dumbledore said brightly like the proverbial kid in a candy store.

He felt a slight sweat drop glide down the side of his temple at the answer as it was such a Dumbledore answer, and the evidence earlier indicated that he was powerful enough to stop his jutsu. The tension and coil fled from his body as he eased his stance into a more relaxed position.

'_Very few wizards could not do what he had done.'_

"Err...no...that's fine, I believe you...sorry about attacking you earlier Professor" Ron stated lamely, his right hand rubbing the back of his neck nervous while his face flushed red in embarrassment. He could imagine Hermione and his mother throwing a fit because he threw a fireball at the Headmaster.

"That's quite alright Ronald; you had every right to be cautious, even more so during these troubled times." Dumbledore stated easily as he began to walk towards him taking note of the trail of ash his jutsu scorched along with the other scenes of destruction littered among the field.

"May I ask as to how you performed that spectacular ball of fire earlier and without a wand no less?" The white bearded wizard enquired, his fierce blue gaze meeting his student's cerulean.

Ron on the other hand felt his body stiffen at the question, and merely remained silent as he stared defiantly back at the headmaster.

His secrets were his to protect.

"You have, of course, the right to refu-"

"Why are you here?" Ron cut him off, his patience wearing thin at his teacher.

"I was interested in the presence I had felt along the woods near the Burrow when I dropped of Mr. Potter, Ronald." Dumbledore stated placidly.

"Well then why were you invisible in the first place?" The Weasley progeny demanded furiously, ignoring that Harry was now at the Burrow, as he felt his temper begin to rise betraying an essential shinobi rule he had been diligently working on for the past weeks, control one's emotions firmly and never let them show through.

"I was merely cautious as I had no means to determine whether the presence was friendly or not."

The answer satisfied him although he now regretted slightly losing his temper at the greatest wizard of all time.

"Sorry professor...for snapping at you, it's just that..." Ron started sheepishly,

"It's fine dear boy, we all have our secrets to keep, as _I_ should understand more than others. Do forgive this old man for his sense of idle curiosity seeing that I cannot help but be inquisitive when presented with something I have never seen before."

Once again his embarrassment returned in full force at his earlier outburst; however he managed to reign in it from visibly showing. While Ron was profusely trying to hide his awkwardness, the Hogwarts Headmaster oddly bent his head towards the darkened sky and gazed at the moon for a few seconds before looking once again at him.

"As it is getting quite late, I shall take my leave...as should you Mr. Weasley, I have no doubt that you and Harry have much to talk about." Dumbledore said pleasantly prior to turning around majestically with his robes whirling alongside him and walking off to the edge of the woods.

To say Ron was stunned was an understatement as he had no words or thoughts to describe the awkwardness of the situation, however it seemed that the Hogwarts Professor had not finished his say as he stopped walking and turned back in his direction.

"Before I head off, might I give you suggestion Ronald?" Dumbledore requested.

"Umm...yea, sure..." He replied.

"Should you ever find yourself in Knockturn Alley, I believe there is a shop there beside an old abandoned Apothecary that you might be quite interested in."

"What's the name of the shop professor?" He queried as he now found himself very interested now in what his _slightly_ barmy professor had to say.

"Higurashi Antiques, and once again good night Mr. Weasley" Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes as he flicked his wand, turned on the spot and vanished into thin air before Ron could question him further on the shop.

'_Higurashi Antiques_...'

Resolving to look up the place when his family and friends were going to Diagon Alley, Ron packed his things into his bag and began on the journey home.

* * *

Author's Notes: Whew, finally. Okay, first off let me say that I'm very sorry for the very long update. Exams, school, and my brother being hospitalized has really taken up most of my time these last few months so I haven't had much time to work on this. Good news though is that these won't be an issue anymore except for final exams in several weeks. Bleh. So you guys can expect the next chapter coming soon.

Anyway on to the reviews, I know many of you are wondering how Nagato's brain ended up in the Department of Mysteries, well sorry but you'll just have to find out as it will be later revealed in the story. As for Ron having Nagato's memories but _slightly_ looking like Yahiko (He has only Yahiko's spiky hair), that will also be revealed sometime in the story. I wasn't quite sure if I had wanted Ron to solely look like Nagato because I had also wanted to tie in Yahiko to Ron as well because Nagato was using Yahiko's body for the Deva Path and I felt that _that_ was quite important, reason being that I felt that Ron could relate to both characters as he shared some qualities when they were younger.

Once again thanks to the readers and reviewers for your patience, and please continue to review and critique my work.


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